I quite liked the idea of London in meltdown the populace dying with the dreaded "Sweats" It seems more than reasonable to assume that a virus might just wipe out the human race and an apocalyptic London is a great place to start. I also think that Mz Welsh created a great feeling of a city that was doomed and may not recover "It was as if a hum, that had been part of the city for so long no one noticed it anymore, had suddenly been switched off, leaving an unnerving, white silence in its place" But having said all that the story of Stevie Flint trying to find out what caused the sudden death of her boyfriend Dr Simon Sharkey created a very mediocre detective story that had lost my interest by the mid way point.I remember reading some 10 years ago The Cutting Room and marveling at its bitter, twisted and gruesome imagery which is sadly lacking here...the characters are present but the story never seems to happen or maintain any excitement or originality and I hold out little hope for parts 2 and 3 in the trilogy :( I was reading this book whilst on a small holiday to the seaside resort of Blackpool and here is a pic of me with daughter no 2 Becs outside the pleasure beach before we spent the day riding roller coaster after roller coaster.......I'm just a big kid at heart :))